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Introducing The Pocket Gamer™

NEVER STOP GAMING!

You’re a gamer. You want to play the hard-core games you love, even when you’re out of the house. The only solution is to buy a PS Vita, 3DS, or some other mobile gaming device, right? Wrong.

The most complete smartphone gaming system ever built!

What is the Pocket Gamer?

The Pocket Gamer is a case for your iPhone or iPod Touch that adds the controls of a modern gaming console without sacrificing any of the functionality of your smartphone. And it already works with the games you love. The current generation is compatible with the iPhone 5 form-factor.

Pocket Gamer Features:

Full suite of controls

Tilt-action joysticks

Bluetooth wireless connection

Wired Lightning connection

Phone charging capability

Slim-profile

Integrated phone case (ClipCase)

Protection for your phone

Why do I need it?

The Pocket Gamer opens your phone to a new dimension of gaming.

A touchscreen works great for games like Flappy Bird, Angry Birds, and other titles built for flicking and poking, but other genres are awkward if not impossible to play without the feedback of physical buttons and joysticks. Actions that should be trivial, like aiming down your sights in Call of Duty or jumping over spikes in Sonic the Hedgehog become exasperating when using only the touch screen.

By adding a directional pad, joysticks, and physical buttons to the touch screen already on your phone, games like these become a joy to play without having to give up the casual games that have made smartphone gaming what it is today.

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What can I do with it?

Play your games the way they were meant to be played.

Many of the world’s most popular franchises (Final Fantasy, Sonic the Hedgehong, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and more) are already available on Apple’s App Store and already play beautifully with our controller.

Go beyond gaming: use your iPhone to control a plane!

Apple’s official support for controllers such as ours make it easy for hobbyists to create their own apps and take their projects to the next level. With the Pocket Gamer on your phone and a camera on your remote controlled car, airplane, or quadcopter, you have all the ingredients for an awesome ride.

How do I use it?

The Pocket Gamer is easy to use and ready to play right out of the box. Simply put the case on your phone, clip it into the gamepad, and turn it on. The phone will automatically recognize input from the gamepad allowing you to instantly connect with your games.

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Who are you guys?

We're engineers who have been playing games for over twenty years. We felt frustration playing poorly-made mobile ports and we knew that if something was going to happen, we would have to do it ourselves. Using money out of our own pockets we embarked on a 12 month journey of design iteration and discovery. Our shelves are full of past prototypes that represent the transformation into our current product.

What will you do with the money?

The money we raise from this Kickstarter will be used to finalize a production-ready model, run consumer testing, and manufacturing overhead. Our goal is to bring the Pocket Gamer to you as soon as possible. If we raise enough money we will be able to accelerate the development process by hiring more designers and engineers, be able to offer the Pocket Gamer in a wider range of colors and add other cool features.

How can I help?

You can show your support by donating to this campaign and earn yourself some awesome rewards.

I just spent all my extra money on Dark Souls II. Can I still help?

Yeah, tell your friends! Share this Kickstarter link on Facebook and Twitter! We are reaching out to you, the Kickstarter community, because we believe there are others out there like us that can’t wait to have a product like the Pocket Gamer in their hands. The more people we can reach, the more money we can raise. Even if you do not have the means to donate now, you can be a part of bringing the gaming world into a new era. Imagine sitting at the coffee shop and instead of playing Angry Birds by yourself, you’re hunting down your friends in Call of Duty or tearing up the track with them in Burnout. We need your help to make this dream a reality!

The Immersa Labs team at the LAUNCH start-up festival in San Francisco. February 2014.

Risks and challenges

As a hardware startup, we face some significant challenges on the road from prototype to production. There are three main objectives we need to achieve before we can get the Pocket Gamer to your doorstep: consumer testing to make sure we've built a product you will love, gaining MFi approval from Apple to manufacture the device, and working with large scale production facilities so that everyone who wants a Pocket Gamer will get one of the utmost quality.

In order to give you the best controller we can possibly build, we will run a series of consumer tests to determine the final configuration of the Pocket Gamer. Every aspect of the controller, from what materials are used to how hard each button should be pressed, will be fussed with until everything feels just right.

Before we begin commercial production, we will apply for and receive MFi certification from Apple for the Pocket Gamer. We are already Apple certified developers and we are confident in our ability to navigate through the approval process.

There are always challenges inherent to large scale hardware production. To ensure no one receives a defective product, we will test for quality, durability, and consistency throughout the manufacturing process. All units will be assembled by an Apple-certified manufacturer, which has been pre-screened and meets Apple’s strict standards. In addition to our team's manufacturing experience, we believe the above will minimize our production risks.

Most importantly, we promise to be transparent and communicative to you each step of the way. Let's build something kick-ass together.

FAQ

There are already games on Apple’s App Store that are compatible with the Pocket Gamer and more are being released every day. The designers of these games have to include controller support in their game for the controller to work properly, but with Apple's official support for controllers integrated into iOS, this has become quite easy for game developers to do!

We are determined to include the most efficient battery possible in the Pocket Gamer. In its current iteration, users will be able to play 2-3 hours, depending on the game. With a lithium-polymer battery (see our stretch goals), we will be able to extend play time to at least 4 hours. Increasing battery life is among our top priorities; we want you to be able to play for as long as you want, whenever you want.

Our current PocketGamer prototype connects via Apple's lightning connector to the iPhone, but we plan to also allow the PocketGamer to connect to iOS devices remotely in case you want to use your PocketGamer with an iPad or some other device.

If we are able to obtain the necessary funds, we believe we can get the Pocket Gamer between your thumbs in eight months. Kickstarter backers get first dibs and a cheaper price, then we’ll try to get it into stores. And of course, the more money we raise now, the faster things will go!

We are not currently designing a Pocket Gamer for Android devices since they come in a wider range of form factors than Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, but with the proper funds, who knows what might happen… *Hint, hint; nudge, nudge; exaggerated wink* (please give us money so we can make an Android version).

The Pocket Gamer is designed around the iPhone 5 series, which includes the original 5, 5c, 5s and the iPod touch 5. The new iPhone 6 is reportedly going to be coming out in two sizes. One will match the form factor of the 5 which means that the Pocket Gamer will be instantly compatible, the other version of the 6 will be a larger model that we will be working hard to adapt to with a larger version of the Pocket Gamer. As for the iPhone 4 and 4s, we will be designing cases that can clip the 4 or 4s into the Pocket Gamer, but since the 4 series does not utilize the lightning connector, it will most likely have to connect via bluetooth.

Support this project

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Pledge $1 or more
About $1.00

YOU'RE A COOL PERSON! ● In addition to the sweet satisfaction of knowing that you helped us out, your name will also be immortalized on our Supporter page and you’ll receive regular updates on our development progress.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $250 or more
About $250

CUSTOM ENGRAVED POCKET GAMER!! ● Get the Pocket Gamer with the only signature that matters: YOURS! Make your Pocket Gamer truly one of a kind with a custom engraving of your name, gamertag, or signature.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

INVITE GET!!!! ● Come join us in California to celebrate the official release of the Pocket Gamer! Get your Pocket Gamer in person straight from the makers themselves. Be part of the world's first Pocket Gamer LAN party.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $5,000 or more
About $5,000

LEGENDARY GET!!! ● You are the backer of all backers. Your name or gamertag will be a part of EVERY Pocket Gamer with a special thank you from us. On top of that, we'll also engrave your Pocket Gamer with whatever you want it to say or even our personal signatures. You have earned a place of honor at the Launch party and deserve the most glorious of hats. Not just any hat. THE HAT. You want it. Trust us.